Integrative Oncology for Clinicians and Cancer Patients

Conventional Cancer Treatment Alone Is Not Working According to the Center for Disease Control in the USA, the age-adjusted mortality rate in the USA for cardiovascular disease and cerebrovascular diseases dropped dramatically between 1950 and 2005 while that for cancer dropped only slightly (See Figure 1, p.170). !is implies that the treatment methods for cancer have not been very e"ective during this time. Worldwide, conventional cancer treatment methods include: surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, hormonal manipulation for certain cancers and the newer monoclonal antibody targeted therapies. !e goal of cancer treatment appears to be to destroy cancer cells at all cost without much attention being paid to the health of the host, the patient. !ere is little emphasis on helping patients to make lifestyle changes or to improve their nutrition. Regarding nutritional supplements, oncologists often tell patients to avoid them, as they might interfere with conventional treatment, since radiation and chemotherapy are largely prooxidant treatments and many nutritional supplements have antioxidant properties. Oncologists often tell patients that it doesn’t Abstract Worldwide medical literature supports the notion that environmental and nutritional factors play a role in the development of cancer. Nutritional recommendations to the public to help prevent cancer are available from the USA’s National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society and other organizations. However, when it comes to treating patients who have been diagnosed with cancer, the vast majority of oncologists fail to deal with nutritional and lifestyle factors to help their patients manage their cancers. Evidence continues to mount that some of the same recommendations designed to prevent cancer should also be applied to patients who already have cancer. Implementing such a program of lifestyle modi!cations, improvement in diet, exercise, stress management, optimal exposure to sunlight, improving energy "ow and nutritional supplements should improve cancer patients’ survival statistics and the quality of life of these patients, including signi!cantly reducing the side e#ects of conventional treatments. $is article focuses on dietary changes and nutritional supplements to help clinicians educate cancer patients, so that they may better deal with their illness. Highlighted are principles involving an optimal diet, avoidance of harmful chemicals and use of nutritional supplements. Some of the controversies surrounding nutritional supplements are reviewed. Speci!c topics covered include a broad range supplement program, vitamin C, amygdalin, iodine, and fermented wheat germ extract. Finally, there is a discussion about paradigms in health care and the e#ects of politics and economics on how health care is practiced today.